Riku's Requiem
by Sephiroth's Kitsune
Summary: I stink at sumaries.. Well Riku's back from Kingdom Hearts but he's a lot different. Death ficcy


Hey all.  Ok I don't own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters (only in my dreams)  Rated for mild violence.  And for you who cry easily, keep a tissue handy.

Sora couldn't stand it.  It'd been a whole month since Riku had come back from his vacation and he hadn't spoke to anyone once.  He rarely showed up on Play Island either, and when he did he sat under the water fall by the Secret Place.  Kairi was worried too.  Riku didn't seem to be Riku anymore, he changed… a lot.

"Well look who decided to show up," crowed Tidus, looking at the silver haired boy on the dock.

Riku's face remained expressionless as he walked toward Secret Place, eyes blindfolded against the sunlight.  Sora watched his friend sadly.  Riku didn't stop at the water fall this time but went in Secret Place instead.  Kairi was already heading after the stoic boy.

"Sora!  Where ya goin' man?" Wakka called.  "I thought we were gonna play a little blitz ball ya?"

"Maybe a little later ok?" replied Sora and ran into the concealed cave.

The passage way was dark and the brunette used the roots growing along the walls to navigate his way through.  He stepped into the small cave lit by a hole in the ceiling.  Kairi stood just to the side of the entrance and Riku stood in front of the back wall.

"Riku?" Sora stepped up behind the teen.

"Can you hear it?" Riku's voice was barely audible and Sora had to strain to hear him.  "Their hearts… they're angry…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Sora.  "Riku what's going on?"

Riku said no more and walked passed Sora and took his customary spot in the shallow fresh water pool.

"Sora?" Kairi stopped the other boy. "He's getting worse."

"At least we know he's not mute," Sora joked.

"Sora!"

"Ok sorry," Sora apologized.

Kairi left and Sora turned and looked at the blank wall Riku had been staring at.

"What happened to you Riku?  What happened to the boy who dreamed of other worlds?  Adventure?" Sora thought and went back to the beach.

"Sora!  Think fast!"

The sixteen year old barely hit back the blue and white sphere before it collided with his face for the second time that week.

"Hey!  Nice one!  Ya know Wakka, I think he's getting better," Tidus said.

******************

The water beat hard down on his head and splashed around him.  Riku sat with his eyes closed trying to drown out his surroundings.  The years inside the darkness seemed to have only been moments before.  For a year he fought the darkness surrounding him, clawing at his skin, devouring his soul.  One month before he'd been wrenched from the abyss he'd become so accustomed to.  He was half carried by a tall silver haired man and his companion in the darkness was taken away by a spiky haired blonde.  They had said they were sent by a man named Leon.  Riku never saw their faces however.  He hadn't seen much since he left Kingdom Hearts.  Light was so foreign to his eyes he couldn't stand sunlight of any degree.  He'd been supplied a black blindfold to shield his eyes from the blaring whiteness.

Riku's thoughts were constantly drawn to his old friends, the ones he betrayed.  They should hate him, cast him from their company into a darkness much like the one he was pulled from.  But they welcomed him back with open arms and he couldn't stand it.  How could they possibly forgive him for what he had done to them?  Especially Sora.  All he'd put the other boy through.  Later he found the brunette didn't remember any of it; the other worlds, the heartless, Ansem, Maleficent, the darkness that had consumed the silver haired boy.

Now he was plagued by memories and haunted by voices of the innocents he took the hearts of.  He couldn't stand to be near Kairi or Sora either; their kindness sickened him.

"If only they knew," thought Riku as the crystalline sheets pelted his body.  "If only they knew."

******************

Sora sat by the bonfire on the beach late that night.  The cool sea breeze wafted from the ocean making the searing flames dance.  His gaze constantly strayed from his chatting friends over to Paopu Island.  On its bent tree stood a lone figure, easily recognizable by his silver hair.  At one point he caught Riku staring back at him, searching him for something.  Sora had quickly turned away back to the fire.

"You should go to him.  He looks like he wants to talk to you," said Selphie leaning over.

Sora looked back and could feel Riku narrow his eyes at him under the black cloth.  Selphie gave him a little push and Sora stood.  He knew the others would instantly start talking about Riku as soon as he was out of ear shot.  Kairi had told him once about how Wakka and Tidus had called Riku some really bad things after he had left early one day for track practice.  But she also told him that Riku smiled through the whole berating and then went all moody again after Kairi had scolded them.

Sora climbed the shack stairs and walked across the bridge to the small island.  He stepped up next to Riku and stared out over the vast ocean before him.

"So what's up?" asked Sora nervously.

Riku remained silent.

"Riku?"

Riku placed his hand over his face and pulled the blindfold off.  He figured he'd adjusted enough now to be able to see the moonlight.

"So your eyes are getting better," Sora said awkwardly.  Ever since Riku had returned from his year long absence he'd found it increasingly difficult to talk to the young man.

Riku stepped off the weathered tree onto the soft grass.  He stripped of his black leather jacket and tossed it to Sora.  After catching the object Sora realized he was in fact quite cold away from the bonfires warmth.  He slipped on the jacket swiftly and hugged himself to stay the cold.

"Aren't you going to get cold now?" Sora asked.

"The cold doesn't bother me."

"Oh," murmured Sora.

Riku walked to the island's edge and looked down at the small waves that lapped against its face.  The moon peeked out from behind the ghastly clouds above and shown down with its pent up brilliance, illuminating the two teens.  Sora spotted several scars patterned across the other boy's white skin.

"What happened?" Sora whispered, knowing Riku would hear him just fine but the other boy held his silence.  "Riku, talk to me."

"It'd be blasphemous for one such as I to speak to you Sora."

"What's happened to make you change like this?" asked Sora.  "Was it something I did?  If so I'm sorry.  Tell me what I can do to make it up to you."

"Hate me."

"What?"

"It's not right for you to see me as anything more than a treacherous snake."

"Riku?"

The silver haired teen turned to face Sora.  Similar scars were mirrored on his front side.

"Hate me Sora."

"I could never hate you."

"Never..hate..me…"

Sora stepped closer to his friend, fearing he was losing it.  Riku walked passed Sora as if entranced by a mesmerizing melody.  He leapt from the bridge onto the sand and went into the Secret Place.  Sora followed quickly behind hearing snippets of Tidus and Wakka's demeaning conversation.  Riku stood in front of the back wall like before but this time he gripped an odd key like object.  It was black as the deepest night, its blade blunt and round but menacing with its tip pronged to the side like a door key.  Riku raised the key and shoved it through the stone wall.  Millions of loud voices flooded the room; all of them screaming and spewing vile curses at them.  Then for one frightening moment the voices stopped and one man's voice cut the sudden silence.

"Return to the darkness."

The key disintegrated into the air and their surroundings were quiet again.

"What was that Riku?" Sora asked shakily.

"People's hearts," Riku muttered.

"Their hearts?  How?  Why?"

"They're all dead, their hearts taken by the heartless one year ago.  Taken by the heartless and a boy."

"Well that boy should obviously pay for his crimes."

Riku bent forward and picked up a sharp blade leaning against the wall in font of him.  He turned to Sora and held out the silvery object.

"I'll give you the honor."

Riku's gaze never left Sora's eyes.  That was the first time he had seen Riku's eyes clearly since he'd been back.  Sora felt like he was drowning in the despair in the other boy's soul, tumbling through an abyss of endless pain.  Sora lost track of all time and space as he immersed himself in the sea green depths.  As he stared pictures and scenes flashed through his mind.  A talking dog and duck.  Moving shadows: the heartless.  Walking playing cards and a running rabbit on two legs.  Mermaids.  A boy made of wood being held unconscious by Riku.  A floating ship and Kairi.  A castle.  Princesses.  Ansem.  All his adventures streamed through his head at a nauseating pace.  He remembered an arduous battle in a place he now knew to be Hollow Bastion.  His opponent wore black clothes with the heartless symbol etched into the front and moved at amazingly fast speeds.  But its identity was indisputable.  Riku.  The silver haired boy tore at Sora, scattering blood across the floor.

Still locked in his mind Sora said, "I could never hate you Riku."

Riku brought up his blindfold and tied it over his eyes, still holding the sword.  He pushed the weapon into Sora as he walked by, leaving the other boy to hold the blade and to mull over his thoughts.

******************

"Guys, that going too far!" Kairi yelled.

"Oh come on Kairi, it's just a little prank," said Tidus.

Riku walked over to the fire and warmed himself only for a moment before walking to the dock.  He looked at where his boat should have been tied up under his blindfold but found it missing.  He jumped down into the water and pulled out a knife from his boot while Tidus and Wakka laughed like idiots back on the beach.  Riku cut the ropes holding the two boys' rafts to the pier and held them firmly.  Riku then swam out toward his island, the two boats in toe.

"Hey!  You can't do that!" screamed Wakka.

Once he was out deep enough Riku swam beneath the boats and punctured their hulls several times over and smiled as they sunk to the bottom of the ocean.  He resurfaced and waved back to Play Island with two fingers and swam home.

******************

Sora watched Wakka and Tidus use a flood light to signal to their houses that they needed rides home as he rowed his boat away from the island.  He chanced a glance at Riku's small island a few miles from his own.  It was dark like always.  Sora was able to spot a little movement on the shore because of the intense moonlight.  Riku walked in his house and tightly shut his door behind him.

Sora finally made it home and opened the front door to his warm cheery home, a place he didn't feel he belonged.  His memories now back he felt out of place in such a loving atmosphere.  He stopped in the door way for a few seconds before deciding to get back in his boat and row to Riku's island, the darkness felt like a more appropriate place for him.

******************

Riku watched the small boat make its way to his island.  A small mat had already been lain out for its captain.  Riku stripped off his shirt and climbed into bed, wrapping his sheet tightly around his shoulders.  He heard his front door open and close and then tentative foot steps made their way to his room.

Riku watched the other boy through the hair obscuring his face.  Sora looked around and noticed a bed had already been made up for him on the floor there.  Riku closed his eyes when Sora looked over at him.

"'Night Riku," Sora whispered and climbed into the makeshift bed.

"Good night Sora," Riku thought and let blissful sleep take him.

******************

Sora jumped awake when he heard a loud bang outside.  He flung the covers from him and bolted to the window over Riku's bed.  In the distance he could hear Kairi screaming but Sora couldn't see past the mass of men on the small island.  On the outskirts of the line of men stood Wakka and Tidus, trying to see through the adults in front of them.  Sora tore through the house and out the door to his two friends.

"What's going on?"

Tidus was shaking uncontrollably when he stepped back from the men.  Wakka was still trying to see.

"Tidus?"

Tidus looked shocked to see Sora there, probably thinking he was back on his own island.

"Our parents got pretty pissed when Riku sank our boats ya?" said Wakka trying to jump to look over the shoulders of the barricade.  "My dad woke me up real early and we came over here.  All these people were already here when we got here man."

Tidus tripped in the sand and fell backwards into the sharp white grains.  The crowd erupted in a roar of cheers and Wakka jumped away fearing he'd be hit in their jovial actions.

"Yo Tidus, what's happening?" Wakka asked.

"I didn't think they'd do this," he murmured.

"What?" pushed Sora.

"My dad told me we were just coming over here to talk to Riku about the boat.  But then he called all the other people in the area and brought them here on his training boat," Tidus said.

"But _what are they doing?" Sora asked._

They heard a splash and Sora looked over.  The rowdy group moved forward into the water and Sora noticed a red liquid staining the sand in the middle of the ring they had left.  Sora ran at the adults and rammed an opening in the wall and squeezed through.

"Riku!"

The silver haired boy was being held up by his neck out of the water by a brown haired man.  Riku had his eyes shut tight against the morning sun and was gasping for air in the man's tight grip.  Crimson streaked the sides of the silver haired boy's face, streaming from his nose and mouth.  Jecht, Tidus's father, tossed Riku up into the air and kicked him in the stomach much like the last kick in his infamous Jecht Shot.

Sora stared anxiously out to where Riku fell.  He waited for him to resurface, almost falling on his face from leaning forward in anticipation.  After a thirty long seconds the adults rejoiced.  Sora looked at them scaredly and ran into the water, diving into the deep depths of the ocean.  He swam out to where he saw Riku enter the warm water but couldn't see his friend anywhere.  He shot up for air and then dove down deeper hoping to see Riku before it got too dark for him to see.  Sora caught a glimpse of a hand disappearing beneath the darkness of the water, but he was quickly running out of air.  He stretched as far as he could and grasped the soft flesh and pulled.  The exertion caused him to gasp and he inhaled the clear surrounding liquid.  He choked on the water filling his lungs and felt himself slowly slipping unconscious.  Sora pulled Riku to his chest determined to reach the surface before letting oblivion take him.  His body wasn't cooperating and he felt himself sinking.  A strong hand grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him up.  The world around him blurred and Sora's mind was blanketed by darkness.

******************

Kairi huddled on the shore of her island quite a ways away from the commotion on Riku's island.  She had seen the men beat poor frail Riku.  He throat was raw from her screaming and desperate cries for Riku's pain to stop.  She had heard the sickening snap when Jecht had sent the silver haired boy to his watery grave, and she watched Sora swim around looking for him.  Silent tears streamed down her face as Tidus and Wakka pulled Sora and Riku from the water onto Wakka's island, which was closest to where they surfaced and far away from the angry mob.  Sora's parents were already heading over on their motor boat.

Kairi's step-mother rushed out and called her into their powered boat and they sailed to the other island.  When they got there Sora was on his side coughing up the water that had threatened to send him into a permanent darkness.  Sora's father was starting to push down on Riku's chest trying to get the boy to breathe again, but when he set the heel of his hand on Riku's chest he felt no bone beneath his touch.  He prodded gently at Riku's chest and found that Jecht's kick had completely crushed the young man's rib cage and probably his internal organs as well.

Sora got up on his hands and knees and spewed out the rest of the liquid in his lungs.  He looked over at Kairi who was running over from his left.

"Are you alright?" Kairi sniffled.

Sora coughed, "I'll be ok… Where's Riku?'

Kairi peered around him and Sora turned to see what she was looking at.  Sora's father was draping a towel over Riku solemnly covering his silver hair and hiding his face beneath the fabric.

"No!" Sora yelled and ripped back the towel.  "Riku!"

Sora went to try and force the water out but made the same gruesome discovery his father had.  He tried rolling his friend on his side but only blood trickled from Riku's mouth.  Sora let Riku roll back on his back and shook the other still boy's shoulders, desperately trying to awaken him.

"Riku!"  Sora broke down in shuddering sobs, hugging Riku close to him.

Tidus and Wakka looked on sadly, ashamed of what they had done to instigate it all.  Sora's parents stepped back and watched their son cry as did Kairi, who was shedding tears as well.

Sora wiped his nose on his arm and lifted Riku, staggering slightly, and ran to Kairi's boat.  He set Riku on the floor and started the engine.  They sped toward Play Island and Sora ran the boat up on the dry sand.  The brunette picked Riku up again and walked into the Secret Place.  Sora could hear the voices now; they were peaceful, almost soothing.  Singing death's lullaby.  Memories of Hollow Bastion flared in his mind, he saw Ansem coming at him with obvious murderous intent and Riku stepping out in front of him to hold him back while they escaped.  He saw Riku helping him defeat the heartless inside Monstro.  Riku pulling the doors to Kingdom Hearts shut.

"You can't leave me Riku," sniffled Sora.  "I won't let you ditch me again."  Sora grabbed the sword from the wall Riku had offered him the night before.  "Where ever we go, we'll go together."

Sora held the sword out and put the tip to his heart.  A phantom of Riku appeared before Sora, wearing the same clothes he had before their adventure through the other worlds.  Riku held the hilt of the sword and help Sora ease it through his skin and his fragile heart.  Sora felt completely at ease staring into Riku's soft eyes, clear of the darkness they had held in life.  Sora pulled the blade out to let his life blood flow freely from his body.  He smiled weakly at Riku, who stared back at him with mild worry for any pain the brunette may be in.  Sora shook his head to reassure his friend and let the accumulating darkness consume him.

******************

So that's how an angst muse works.. well please send me a review!  I love reviews ^_^  and I do write fics on request if there's a specific type of fic you like I'd be happy to write it up for you.  (for those of u who care I will write a yaoi story, if you don't know what that means then I doubt you'll be asking for one.)  Well, hope to hear from you!

~Sephiroth's Kitsune


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